Hampton, Va. – The man found guilty for killing another man outside of a Hampton restaurant in May of 2013 was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday.

Charlie Moses Woodbury, 27, was shot to death outside of Jack’s Restaurant on East Pembroke Avenue. His killer, Patrick Julius Roberts, was indicted in August 2013 for voluntary manslaughter, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was convicted in September 2014.

May will mark two years since the crime occurred. Police say they responded to Jack’s Restaurant around 2:00 a.m. that morning and found Woodbury suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper torso.

Woodbury was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead at 2:23 am.

An investigation revealed Roberts and Woodbury got into an argument outside of the restaurant. They say Roberts approached Woodbury, took out a gun and shot him.

Woodbury’s family appeared in court for Roberts’ sentencing.

“If it were up to us, we would recommend life. But we are not the court system, we are not the justice system and there’s a reason why there’s a justice system so we have to comply with what they say,” says Woodbury’s stepmother Carmen Brown.

Defense attorney’s say Roberts was defending himself and his aunt after Charlie swung a knife at them — which is something his stepmother doesn’t think he would do.

“Charlie was not a violent person. He might have done his thing and hung out in the streets and everything but he was not a violent person and that’s the Charlie that I know,” she says.

But no matter what happened, there’s no question that Roberts was the one who fired the gun that killed Charlie, according to the Commonwealth.

In court, after Roberts read a two-page apology and turned around to tell Charlie’s family he didn’t mean for their son to die, he was sentenced.